Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Dear Author I Shall Not Name

A book really surprised me last night, but not in a good way.

I'd picked up a book by a new-to-me author. I liked the premise and the characters sounded fun. I enjoyed the set up of the story, the way I could see what the characters couldn't see coming. It's a romance and I thought the author had some unique twists and turns for her characters to face. The dialogue was great and for the most part their interactions were fun and honest. The story was working at a solid B+ for me.

Then I got to the last page.

I'd spent a few hours with these characters, I'd gotten to know them and I liked them. I wanted them to have their HEA (happy ever after). And I thought they were getting it - I liked the way the author was setting it up, another good twist (or so I thought). Then the last page exploded it all.

To me none of it made sense. The direction the last page took was in exact opposition to the characters & their goals & their feelings.

The author probably intended it as a cliffhanger (there is a book 2), but it didn't work for me at all. Not only would I downgrade the story to a D or worse, I will never read the next book. In fact I doubt I will ever read anything by this author again.

As a romance writer, I tend to prefer HEA or happy-for-now endings, but ambiguous endings can totally rock too (think The Giver or Possession). Above all the ending has to make sense and be true to the rest of the story.

This one didn't and wasn't & I felt cheated out of the hours I'd spent with the book.

Okay, rant over. No, I will not reveal the book or author, nor will I write a review - I only comment on books I've enjoyed enough to share. But I probably will stew over it for a little while longer.

And you can bet I'm going to be looking more closely at the endings for my own stories!

How about you, do you get annoyed by shocker endings? Do you have things that turn you off authors forever too?

54 comments:

I have to say that YEARS ago, I read a book where the words were as smooth as butter, characters were incredibly engaging, I was there you know--in the setting, and then I get to the end. Wham! The ending did not "end up" where the story pointed. I was angry and sad.

I think that each book need to be somewhat complete and satisfying in itself, even if it's part of a series. Even if it's a cliffhanger, there should be certain resolutions to the conflict. An unhappy or ambiguous resolution -- okay, if it's done correctly.

But a screwball thrown onto the last page just to make you buy the next book in the series -- no, that's manipulation and I hate that.

I hate it when that happens, so I'm right there with you on your rant, Jemi. That is so cheating to try to get someone to buy the next book, when, if the author hadn't done that, you probably would have bought the second book anyway. And now you won't.

It drives me crazy when that happens! Ugh. I can see why it would bother you so much. The entire purpose of a story is, well, to tell a story. Not to set readers up so they have to by the next one (and the one after that) in order to have any resolution. I hope you enjoy your next read much better!

Hmmm ... I'm wondering how this book got published in the first place with such an unsatisfactory ending - especially for a romance. And WTF was the author thinking?? Honestly, I positively HATE endings like that!!

But Jemi, I like your style in that you did not mention the book or the author's name, nor would consider writing a review. I wouldn't either.

Despite that, when all is said and done, I guess reading and writing is all perspective.

Hi Jemi -- I don't like cliffhangers in novels. I tend to read mysteries and thrillers, so I like the mystery resolved and the protagonist free and happy. I was not happy about the cliffhanger Lee Child tried in one of his Jack Reacher books, and one of the best debut books I've read in a long time (by a totally different author) killed off the main character at the end. That was disappointing, even though it made sense. So yes, we do need to pay attention to endings and to reader expectations for our genres.

This topic immediately makes me think of The Haj, by Leon Uris. I absolutely loved the novel, but then it all fell apart in the last 50 pages or so. All these characters I'd grown to know and love started acting so weirdly and out of character, and the whole storyline fell apart, unraveled, and went off in a really bizarre, insulting direction. It's like Uris felt or were told it were getting too long, and so decided to just end it as fast as possible instead of taking the time to bring it to a proper conclusion with some extra pages.

I read a book like that recently, too, The ending totally ticked me off, and made me sorry I'd put the time into reading the darned thing. The ending made the whole rest of the book a big fat lie. Not a darned thing happened the reader thought happened. GRRRRR. It was as annoying as watching an entire TV series, and finding out on the final episode that the whole series has just been someone's stupid dream.

Hi Jemi,I agree, an ending doesn't have to be "happy" but it must be satisfying. It sounds like this author was just trying to set up book 2 and make people want to buy it, but it backfired. I wonder that her agent/editor didn't see this coming??

I'm a sucker for a happy ending but sometimes not-so-happy but ambiguous works, like The Giver, as you mentioned. And I could think of tons more if I had time.

I sure would like to know who this was so I won't make the same mistake, but I understand your reluctance to reveal.

I guess it depends. Sometimes I like shocker endings. For example, I'm one of the few who loves the ending to Gone with the Wind. I cheered for Rhett that he finally said enough was enough. And it was so true to Scarlett's character to declare she wasn't going to give up. I think if the ending is shocking and maybe not the most popular choice, the characters MUST stay true to who they are. I think that's what made GwtW's ending work so well. The two main characters acted exactly as they had throughout the novel.

I do not like when the end doesn't seem to match what has been happening. I don't mind surprises- but they need to make sense. I also don't like when a book isn't wrapped up enough for me. I like series- but each book should be given a logical ending and enough to make you want to read the next one (all the Harry Potter books came to an ending where I felt satisfied, but I couldn't wait to read the next books when they came out).

Have I read any books where the ending ruined the book for me- yep a couple come to mind. Such a letdown and I never read any of the sequels to those books of other books by those authors.~Jess

I had an author do that do me in a series. I had read the first couple of books, might have been four or more, that revolved around this couple. At the end of the last book I read, the author killed off the guy. I never read anything by her again and never will. I wasn't expecting happily ever after but never ever after ended the story to me.

There are three name authors I will never read again because of their endings. One is in the broad mystery genre, two are in the broad romance genre. I'm willing to forgive a new author and will try the next book if I enjoyed the overall style and story of the first. But I'm unforgiving of a seasoned author published by a Big Six publisher. I feel used.

You know, this is something I've been thinking about. I'm plotting the next project, and I have an idea for the ending that may or may not be good. I want it to be unexpected, yet we can turn unexpected into unwanted. That's not good.

I felt the same way about Nicolas Sparks' "Dear John." The ending wasn't pleasing at all, but the moviemakers fixed that for the film version!

I was following a thread on twitter a couple of weeks ago, where people were discussing whether a romance book had to have a happy ending. And the overall consensus was Yes! I think when you pick up a book in a particular genre, there are certain expectations that are dangerous to mess with. Sounds like this author did that with poor results.

Thankfully, I have never read endings that were as far OFF as the book you had read. I most likely would feel the same exact way.

As you said.. you invested so much time with these characters, why kill the story with an unsuitable ending?

Sorry you had this experience. Hopefully the author will get it together. Is this a self pubbed book? Or a publisher? If a publisher, I would really be surprised that they didn't catch this... self pubbed, sure. Perhaps you should write a letter to said author... ONLY if it's a self pubbed book. You may be able to open her eyes to her mistake. I know you're angry now, but sometimes we as writers miss our mark...

Oooh, good point! I like HEA endings, but they don't have to be happy. BUT they DO have to make sense. You have to stay true to the characters. If a character does something surprising that's okay, but not if it's completely unbelievable.

I read a book a couple of years ago which I had enjoyed, and it seemed to be building to something great but the ending was really just nothing. It didn't explain anything about what happened and left me completely unsatisfied.

It certainly makes you think about your own writing, so at least positives can be taken from it.

And that's the reason I won't rate books...or recommend books...until I read the last page. I too have LOVED books all the way up til the very end, and then it has been ruined by an author's quest for shock value. And I also don't like cliffhangers. Like Dianne expressed above, I prefer my books to be complete and whole within themselves.

I'm with you, Jemi. As a reader I feel duped if I'm led in a certain direction that doesn't pan out. And if there's sequel planned it makes me even more annoyed, as if it's just a ploy to get me to buy the next book.